Automated Transcription

Speaking on the lectureship. There are some things that have greatly changed our world and 1440. When the printing press from Gutenberg was invented, it radically changed the world. By the end of the 15th century, there were about 20 million copies of books that have been spread across Europe. It changed the world. You think about Tim Berners Lee and his group of international researchers.

And in 1998, when they came up with this idea that we now know as the world wide web, the internet, it changed our world. And just 32 years, we went from dial up internet and desktops to smartphones and voice activated searches. Our world has never been the same. There’s debate about who’s to blame for this or who’s to credit for this.

But somewhere in the 17, 18 hundreds, someone invented the automobile and it revolutionized transportation. And now the world in which you and I live, there’s I four and all of that, right? That the world has never been the same, but there is no event that has changed our world, quite like the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the first 10 verses of Matthew 28,

Matthew tells us that the tomb was in fact empty, and the world is changed because Jesus rose from the day when he rose from the dead, it was heaven putting earth on notice. Nothing will ever be the same. His kingdom was just days away from being inaugurated and established. Forgiveness of sins was now found only in him. And if anybody would ever be saved,

it would have to be through his name. He was declared to be the son of God, with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection, from the dead Romans one, three and four Jesus’s resurrection changed the world. But when you and I read the new Testament, it was never, God’s designed that the resurrection changes lives in vague and abstract ways.

Just to be able to say this and a sermon, or have a lectureship around the idea of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. No, far more than that, the new Testament says the resurrection of Jesus changed the world, but our resurrection is supposed to change our world. As Michael started a moment ago in Colossians two, 11 and 12, Paul says we were dead and buried and raised with him through faith,

in the powerful working or the operation of God. And based on our resurrection in baptism, our lives are supposed to be forever different. Clawson’s three. Paul begins by saying, if you have been raised with Christ, seek those things, which are above where Christ sits on the right hand of God, set your mind on things above and not on things on this earth for you have died.

And your life is here with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life shall appear, then you also will appear with him in glory. Paul says, based on your resurrection and what happened in baptism, wherever that was at some lake or a beach or a church building some baptistry based on that you to be different. And so as Josh pointed out a moment ago in verses five through nine,

Paul says mortified put to death. Therefore your members, which are on the earth, and he talks about the various things that you and I have to give up because we’re Christians. And there are times when maybe we would say that’s easier to do than what we’re going to talk about. In a moment, we may be better at killing our vices than adopting the virtues that the new Testament says we must also put on.

And so it’s not enough to say I’m a Christian. I’ve been raised with Christ different. And I’ve got a long list of things that I no longer do. I’ve given up cursing and drinking and fornicating and lying and less thing. Paul says, that’s great, but the resurrection is designed to do so much more. There are things that you and I have to put on,

and maybe that’s our challenge. Maybe if you look at your life, you say I’ve been a Christian A. Long time. And if I’m honest with you, there are a lot of things I’ve stopped doing. But my heart is just as dark and cold. I’m just as harsh and mean and irritable. And it’s unforgiving. I studied the Bible. I know a lot of the passages by heart,

but deep down inside, I’m really not a different person. Paul says it can’t be that way because there’s the resurrection of Jesus. And then you and I had been raised as well. If you have your new Testament, turn to Colossians chapter three and notice what Paul says about the things we’re to put on beginning in verse 10 clauses in verse 10, Paul says and put on the new man,

which is renewed in knowledge after the image of his creator, there is no Greek or Jew. There’s no circumcised or uncircumcised, no barbarian, no skidding nor bond nor free, but Christ is all. And in all put on there for as God’s holy and beloved, compassionate hearts put on this heart of compassion where there’s kindness and humility, meekness and patience bearing with one another.

If anyone has a complaint against any forgive as Christ has forgiven you. So also you must forgive verse 14 and above all these things put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony or some translations have, which is the bond of perfection. Paul says, here are the changes we have to meet. And the time we have remaining, I want to mention five things that Paul says we must put on.

As God’s people. Now, I had a PowerPoint set up. I didn’t get to put it up in time. And so you’ve got the power in your hand and we’ll make the points. And so there it is. Number one, Paul says, put on the new self, the new man changed by knowledge that’s firsthand and put on the new man,

which is, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his creator. You’re a Christian. You’ve been raised with Christ put on the new man, but Paul says this different, this new man is renewed in knowledge it’s as if Paul dibs back into the book of Genesis and says here, devil take that because the devil said, if you eat from this tree,

you will have knowledge. You’ll will be like God. And when they did that, they became more unlike God than they ever were before, but he says, God’s won. He’s got us back. And now in Christ, we can be renewed after the true knowledge of the image of our creator, the God we were supposed to be like all the time.

Paul says it’s different. We were made in the image of God, Genesis 1 26 and 27. But based on our sins, we’ve marked that image. But if we’re, if we’re Christians can be changed and transformed and made like him again, Jesus calls this, the new birth, John three and verse five. Peter says you’ve been born again, not a corruptible seed,

but of incorruptible by the word of God, which lives and abides forever. First Peter 1 22 and 28, Paul says put on that new person, be a different person. You and I can only be one person at a time. And so Paul says, make up your mind to live for Jesus and be like him. The world says, be yourself.

Be the best you, you can be the new Testament saying you’ve tried that it hasn’t worked. Be like him. I’m crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live yet. Not I, but Christ lives in me live like Jesus. And you do it by putting on what Paul calls, the new self or the new person. If any man be in Christ.

Second Corinthians five 17 old things have passed away. Behold, all things become new, especially you. You’re supposed to be a new person, put on the new man and be transformed. There’s a popular idea going on right now. That’s called wardrobe minimalism. And the idea is when you and I stand before our closets day after day, we typically no matter how much we have,

how little we have, we typically wear the same things over and over again. You’ve got your same pants, same shoes, same shirts. You always stand before the closet and say, what am I going to wear? The same thing you were last week? And so they say, well, we should do the wardrobe. Minimalists. Say, what we should do is just go ahead and purge our closets.

Make it easy on yourself. Window down your closet, your wardrobe to a few small pieces, major things that you need. You don’t wear the rest of the stuff. Anyway. Richard Branson, Barack Obama, you remember Steve jobs and the trademark black turtleneck, mark Zuckerberg and the gray shirt. They say they wear the same thing. Every single day.

It cuts down on decision-making. It doesn’t waste time. Every day they say, I just put on the same thing and use my brain for better things. Paul ops for spiritual wardrobe, minimalism, he says there should only be one outfit hanging in the Christian’s closet. Every day. When you get up, you wear Christ. What am I going to wear tomorrow?

Put on the new man, where Christ, what am I going to wear next week? Put on the new man and where Christ. And what about in the winter? And what about in the summer or the fall? You where Christ you put on the new man, Galatians six, 15, Paul says in Christ, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything,

but instead a new creature. Notice the text again in verse 10, this is all based on knowledge. If you know better, you do better. My Angelo says, you do what you can with what you know. And then when you know, better you change. But Paul says they already know. And so they should be run the references in Colassians on knowledge,

look at Colossians chapter one and circle these underline. These make some sort of chain reference because Paul is saying behave based on knowledge, but then he says, you already have it. And Colossians one, verse nine, he prays for them to a bound in knowledge chapter one, verse nine and chapter one in verse 10, he says, be filled with the knowledge that comes from God.

And that was a part of his prayer chapter one, verse 10 and chapter two in verse two, he says in Christ is all of the knowledge and guess where they are because of their baptism in Christ. And so he says in chapter three, in verse 10, be renewed in knowledge, you can be the answer to my prayer. If you would just live up to what you already have in God,

be different based on what you know, in verse 10, this idea of being renewed, it’s a present passive participle in the Greek. Somebody says you don’t have to know Greek to get the heaven you don’t, but it might help you get there. What Paul says here about this idea of being renewed, it is God is renewing us. He’s saying,

let God renew you every day. Second Corinthians four 16. This idea of the outward man is wasting away, but the inner man is being renewed day by day. The first thing we have to do, if we’re going to be God’s people based on the resurrection is put on the new man who has been changed by knowledge. When you and I face temptations,

you say, I have struggled with my temper. What should I do? Based on this text, study the Bible on the subject. I struggle with the lust. What should I do? What’s going to help me to transform started the Bible on the subject. I struggle with truth and with honesty and with pride and with vengeance, what should I do?

Based on this text, Paul says, what’s going to make the difference in your life. And mind is when we get God’s knowledge on the subject, coupled with the desire to be changed and transformed. And we say, okay, God, I’m a blank canvas. Open me up, pour into me and change me. Based on that knowledge will be the new people.

God always intended us to be the law of the Lord is perfect. Converting the soul. The testimonies of the Lord are sure making wise the simple, the change happens when we get in the word, when the word gets in us and we live like we should. Number two, Colossians chapter three in verse 11, Paul says put on the new way of seeing people.

It’s not enough to put on the new man and be changed ourselves. But because we’re the new person, we don’t see anybody else. The same notice here, no Greek or Jew. Paul says, no, that’s done a way, no circumcised or uncircumcised, no barbarian or skiddin nor slave or free. It was revolutionary. And Paul’s Dan counter-cultural and it is an hour’s notice.

The different sorts of areas of emphasis. You might call this a caste system of the first century. And Paul just eliminates this altogether. He says Jews and greets. Those are the two major nationalities that are spoken of in the Bible or twos, different cultural groups, circumcised and uncircumcised, those outer manifestations of which group you’re in barbarian or Skippy. And these would be lower level Jen’s house.

And then he says slave or free in Christ. None of it matters. The only thing that matters is that the end of verse 11, but Christ is all. And in all, if you’ve been raised with Christ, you’re not the same. And guess what? You don’t see people the same either. You’ve got to put this on as the new person to say,

I’m going to live different. And everybody around me I’m transformed and high. See them. I won’t look at people the same way. I won’t be shaped by the same things. Imagine growing up in the first century, in the Roman empire, in this area, in this era where everybody is judged, based on how they look, their occupation, who they are.

Paul says, Christians is different for us. We’re changed. And so Jews can’t say to Jen’s house, Hey, we’ve got the patriarchs and we’ve got all of this old Testament. Lineage is God, the God of the Jews only, but no, also of the Gentiles, Romans 3 29, you know, the circumcise can say to the uncircumcised, we’re better than you.

First Corinthians 7 22. Paul says in Christ, circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything but the keeping of God’s commandments, the free couldn’t say to the slaves. Well, we’re better than you. We’ve got our freedom. Paul says, and the Lord, the free man is the Lord’s slave. Everybody is on level ground. One man said we shouldn’t boast about our face or our race or God’s grace,

because they’ve all been given to us freely question. What do you have that you have not received? And if you have received it, then why do you boast as if you haven’t first Corinthians four in verse seven, a new way of seeing people. This is easy to say, but hard to practice. We’ve got to see people as they truly are.

Paul says the most important thing about Christians is not their nationality. It’s not their citizenship to America. It’s not their spiritual lineage or their nationality. It’s not where they work or their jobs. If you’re a Christian, the most important thing about you is that you’re a Christian. Now here’s the question. People that know us best, where do we really put the emphasis?

Because that’s where he puts it into verse 11 and the end Christ is all and in all. And because you’re in Christ, that’s the first thing you want people to know about you. And the last you’re a Christian and everybody in Christ is the same person. Somebody asked Marcia key, but why do you call everybody your brother? He says, because if I miss him and Adam,

I hit him in Christ. We’re all made in the same image. And because of that, we’re to treat people and see people the right way based on what Jesus has done for us. This hierarchy of treating people differently, based on you see the spiritually immature is always treating people different based on these, these exterior things, these superficial things that don’t really count.

Did they go to college and how much money do they make and where do they live? And what part of town they’re from? Paul says no more in Jesus. Everybody’s one. Everybody’s the same. How are you doing with that? What do you think about people that you get behind and you’re driving and you think, oh man, maybe that’s why he can’t drive because he has this bumper sticker and he supports this politician.

It’s got nothing to do with it. He just can’t drive. Right? Paul says, listen, those things don’t matter. Be different. Be changed. Galatians 3 26 down through 29, where all the children of God by faith in Christ, Jesus, as many of us as have been baptized into Christ, I’ve put them on here. There’s no Greek or Jew bond nor free male,

nor female. We’re all one in Christ. And if we belong to Christ, we’re Abraham’s seed and heirs, according to the promise, it’ll change the way you see yourself and it’ll change the way you see people and our country in 1964, Lyndon B Johnson, it was started by John F. Kennedy, but it was ushered into law. By Lyndon B Johnson signed was known as the civil rights act.

What the act suggests is this no more segregation and no more discrimination based on race or religion or sexual orientation. The government said, you know what we should do. We should just treat everybody like they’re the same, what a novel idea. When it took politicians and legislators years to figure out and sorta work through Christian should have always known. Paul says,

this is the way it was always designed to be. If they’re an image bearer, you treat them the way that God says that you should James three in verse nine, for the Christian who is put on the new self, what it all boils down to is this, everybody in the world is either my potential brother or sister in Christ. And I treat them as such or they’re already in Christ.

And they’re part of my eternal family and God with Christ. And because of that, we’re to love one, another number three and Colossians chapter three, Paul says we put on the new man made by knowledge where to make sure that we put on this new way of seeing people. And then in verse 12, put on compassionate hearts where to be like Christ were to be like God.

And so he says, as the elective, God, or as gosh, chosen and holy and beloved ones put on these compassionate hearts with this kindness and humility and meekness and patience, he says, put on this heart, that’s been molded and shaped by God. In the only passage in the gospels where Jesus describes his own heart in Matthew 11 and verse 29,

he says, I am meek and lowly in heart. Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy Laden. And I’ll give you a rest. I’m meek and lowly in heart. That’s how he described his heart. And Paul says, essentially, you take on the same heart. Notice the characteristics in verse 12, kindness. This idea of putting others above yourself,

this meekness Galatians 5 22 is a fruit or evidence that the spirit is present in our lives. This patience coupled with this idea of meekness and humility. Paul says all of these things are to be yours. You’re to wear them, have a compassionate heart, be changed by the resurrection. People won’t believe we’re Christians until we act like it. And here it is in verse 12,

put on these compassionate hearts, be a different person. You know, everything that Paul mentions in verse 12 is said somewhere about God or Christ or both throughout the old and new Testament. What Paul is essentially saying in colorful language in Colossians three and verse 12 is be like the God who sought you and bought you your children of his. And so mimic his behavior.

Especially right after Christmas. Sometimes parents have bought their children clothes and certain things, and they say, now, listen, these clothes. And these things are for these occasions. And when you come home, you take off the school clothes. You can put on whatever clothes you want to go outside and play in. You take off those church clothes or church shoes.

And it, Paul is saying, listen, you put on these clothes, but they’re not to be taken off. When you get into more familiar company, you have to wear this all the time. What people in your family describe you as harsh and cold and critical and irritable, or would they describe you? Like Paul says, we should be in Colossians three in verse 12.

Are we this kind of people? Are we this way? Paul says, if you put on Christ, you must be, are you kind and compassionate? And people know they can come to you with things because your meekness and your patient, or do they walk on eggshells because we don’t know what’s going to set them off today. We don’t know what she’s frustrated about or what she’s dealing with.

Paul says in Christ, you’ve put on the new behavior, the new attitude, and you’re going to be changed. Listen, if you’re not careful, if we’re not careful, the world will harden us. The prayer of David and Psalm 51 10 needs to be the prayer of every Christian created me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. God,

work on my heart. That’s why Paul says, this is continual. This renewal has to be continual. If you take a day off the devil, get us and corrupt us and try to change us. Put on compassionate hearts. Here’s number four in verse 13, Paul says, put on tolerance and forgiveness. I know tolerance is a buzz word in our culture right now.

And what tolerance means to most people in the world is except everything that everybody else does. And if you, don’t not only accepted and approve it, you’re unloving, unkind and intolerant. And that’s the kind of tolerance we need to reject. We need to shun that. That’s not what the Bible teaches, but we need to be careful that in our shunning,

the improper definition of tolerance, we forsake the kind of tolerance that Paul mentions in verse 13, that needs to be characteristic of Christians. Maybe we approach texts like Colossians three, 10 through 14. And we say, you know, listen, we live in this politically correct climate and everybody’s soft and push, not me. You’re not going to get me with that.

I’m going to tell you what I’ll do. I’m going to stand my ground and all of these things. And I’m not going to let anybody run over me because our world is just gotten too soft. Wouldn’t you agree? Paul would say not at all the world really hasn’t gotten soft enough based on what the new Testament says about biblical tolerance is where to be changed because of what God’s done for us.

Look at verse 13, bearing with one another. That’s the word. And that’s what it means to put up with beat access. It also means to tolerate other people, put up with them, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven you. If anybody has a complaint against any you’re supposed to forgive, not because they deserve it. Not because you think they’re worthy of it.

It’s all surrounding this idea of how much has God forgiven you. How much has God putting up with from you? And for me, Jesus says, when you stand praying, forgive, if anybody has an issue with another, because God has forgiven you mark 1125 and 26. This doesn’t mean we approve of sin or fail to point it out. It just means Christianity is not baseball.

Three strikes and you’re out. It means as long as somebody else seeks to pardon from us, we always extended. And Matthew 18, Peter said how many times when my brother sin against me and I forgive him until seven times, Jesus said no. So 70 times seven Matthew, 1821 and 22. The point was not to see if you and I could count up to four 90.

It was to see if we really would be willing to forgive as much as he’s forgiven us. When they nailed Jesus to the cross. He cried out in Luke 23, 34 father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Maybe Steven was there. I don’t know, but he echoes the same words in acts seven, verse 60. When they threw rocks at him,

until he died. He said, father, lay not this sin to their charge. It was to say, when these individuals get ready to repent, God, don’t look back on this occasion and say, I just couldn’t forgive them. Look what they did to my son. And one of my spokesmans and my servant. He says, no, I want you to forgive them.

If anybody has a complaint against any, do people have to sign a promissory note before you give them forgiveness? When they seek it, he says, I want you to be forgiving. I want you to be compassionate. I want you to be kind. I want you to treat people like God and Christ has treated you. If anybody has a complaint against any,

that’s what we focus on. How much God has forgiven us, not how much we forgiven other people, because we know we don’t deserve God’s forgiveness. We know we’ve run up the debt with God. And yet, as long as we seek it from him, he’ll extend it to us. See the new man puts this on. And if you run into anybody who is wearing the new man that Paul says we’re to put on in Colossians three and verse 13,

you’ve never run up too many chances with them. They’ll always forgive you. They’ll all. First Corinthians 13, five. Paul says, love keeps no record of right and wrong. Is that you? Or do you have a ledger? Do we have ledgers of the things people have done to us that have been wrong? Paul says, forgive him, forget it,

wash it away. If Stephen and Jesus could say that about their enemies, how much more should we be willing to say it about our brother? And that’s the context. Paul is talking about our dealings with each other and we should be quick and swift to forgive one another, to be kind to each other, to be compassionate because that’s the God that we serve as much as we’ve been forgiven,

as much as we’ve been pardoned, the first people to forgive. If anybody should have PhDs and forgiveness, it should be members of the new Testament church because we’re living every day of our lives. Based on the forgiveness that God has offered to us. Ephesians 4 30, 2 Paul said, be kind to one another forgiving one another. If anybody has an issue with any,

even as God forgave you. So also you must forgive, put on tolerance and put on this spirit of forgiveness in verse 14. Here’s the last one Paul says above all these put on love, which some translations have is the bond of perfection or the ESV says, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. If Paul is keeping with the same clothing metaphor all the way up through verse 14,

when he may be saying now is this okay? You’ve put on all these other clothes. And above that on top of that, the shirts here to where the garment should aware above everything else, put on, love. It binds everything together in perfect harmony. You can’t do any of these other things unless you’re really a loving person like God wants you to be.

If Christians are known for anything, it should be for our love. First Corinthians 16, 14, let all that you do be done in love. Can you think of all the passages? Nobody can not off the top of their head. All of the passages where the new Testament says we’re to love one another and we’re to be loving people. Jesus says a new commandment I give to you that you love one another.

As I have loved you, that you love one another by this, all men will know you’re my disciples. If you have love one toward another John 13 30, 4 and 35, do you think Jesus ever looks down from heaven on churches of Christ? And he says, look at these people, they partake supper on the first day of the week, just like I said,

they sing congregational, reciprocal, acapella, singing, just like I said, they should. They baptized for the remission of sins. Just like the new Testament says they shouldn’t acts chapter two in verse 38, male leadership of plurality of elders. Just like the new Testament says, but those people could not be my people because they don’t love one another. They fight and they bicker and they argue and they look for reasons to fall out with each other.

Instead of drawing closer to one another, the badge of identification, the ID badge that God’s people were among all those other things, which matter. In fact, we hold to the doctrine because of this is that we love one another, as God says, we should, it will cover a multitude of Sans. First, Peter four in verse eight. If we don’t love,

we haven’t seen God or known him first, John four, seven and eight, Paul says above everything else that you can put on, be known for this. If people know anything about us, they should say those people. We don’t agree with them. We may not even like them, but they’re the most loving people on our block. They are the most loving people in our community.

Those people they get love, right? Because they’ve been with Jesus Christ, Dr. Harry Coover in 1942, didn’t intend to invent superglue. It was an accident. I’m glad he did though. Aren’t you it’s been used to cleanse war rooms and it’s found in junk drawers around the world. In fact, my mom applied it to my suitcase right before we came here so that things would sort of hold together.

What Paul says in Colossians three in verse 14 is when God chose love as the final virtue that binds everything together, it wasn’t an accident. It was on purpose. It’s what caused them to send his son, John three 16. Why did he send him for God? So loved the world that he gave us. One of a kind, his only begotten son is what motivated Jesus to carry the cross and not turn back a greater love has no man than this,

but that a man would lay down his life for his friends. John 1513 is what causes us to put up with one another in, stick it out. Paul would say second Corinthians five, 14, the love of Christ. It compels us. It pushes us forward. It causes us to do things we wouldn’t otherwise do. It really is the one virtue that binds everything else together in perfect harmony.

Without it, it’s like driving a car with no tires. You’re going nowhere. If you really don’t love you, haven’t been perfected. You haven’t really been matured in Colossians three. Paul says there have been two great resurrections. There’s Jesus’s resurrection, which is a historical fact that no one who truly looks at the evidence can really deny. But then there’s another resurrection,

which is supposed to change us. That’s our resurrection from the watery grave of baptism. And when we come up out of that water we’re God’s children, we are adopted into his family. We’re forgiven, we’re added to his kingdom. We’re to put off old things, which is sometimes easy to see, you know, he used to smoke. He doesn’t do that anymore.

And they used to live together and they weren’t married and they went their separate ways or they got married and that’s a great, and where to put off less than blasts for me and covetousness and all of those things. But then Paul says it doesn’t stop there. You’ve got to adopt some virtues. You’ve got to put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of his creator here.

No, no Greek and Jew, no circumcised get rid of prejudice. Don’t think about white and black and rich and poor and American and foreigner. Paul says no more. You’ve got to put on a compassionate heart, but they’re going to think I’m solved. Put on a compassionate heart, be tolerant, forgiving, and above everything else. Let everything you do be motivated by love when you’ve done that.

Paul says the resurrection has really made a difference in the world, but ultimately it’s made a difference in us. Let’s be changed by the fact that Jesus raised was raised from the dead. And if we’ve obeyed the gospel, we’ve been raised from the dead as well.